To understand why Native American members are hesitant to enroll in higher education, it is necessary to understand this population's barriers to achieving this goal. Degree attainment by American Indians has remained consistently low while other minority groups have consistently risen. The focus of this qualitative single-case study was on…

This dissertation argues that indigenous language revitalization and reclamation projects are best understood as multigenerational and multi-participant conversations, which I will frame as language conversations. Language revitalization and reclamation relies on relationships, access, and accountability within indigenous frameworks. This model of…

This study addressed Native American students' perceptions of their educational experiences, 142 years after the first federally-run, off-reservation Indian Boarding School opened, and their perceptions of how university staff, faculty, and administrators could better serve Native students. Qualitative interviews were conducted with five Native…

The current study seeks an understanding of the Native American boarding school experience within the contemporary historical period of 1945 to the present. Boarding schools are implicated as a major influence in the destruction of indigenous cultures and the transmission of intergenerational trauma (Brave Heart & DeBruyn, 1998). What little…

In this study I investigated the journeys of five American Indian students with disabilities (AISD) pursuing higher education in the Southwest region of the United States. Specifically, the AISD's journeys were examined to identify: (1) student perceptions and social and institutional conditions that served as barriers to pursue higher education;…

This three-article dissertation specifically examines one challenging element of teaching history to young children: the representation of historical violence and adversity, using fourth grade curriculum and instruction surrounding the topic of Spanish colonization of California as a case study. This era, known as the Spanish mission period in…

The purpose of my study was to examine how a site reform leader implements the "Native Star" questionnaire at a school for American Indian students and how he describes and experiences school reform efforts at a Bureau of Indian Education (BIE) school in New Mexico. This was accomplished through a qualitative review of how the site…

Spanish missions that dot the landscape in California today exist as centers of historical interpretation. Visitors to California, residents of the state, and school children often turn to these sites to learn about the early history of the region. Unbeknownst to many visitors, the history presented at many contemporary California mission sites…

Contrary to stereotypes of proto-Athapaskan culture as simplistic and archaic, evidence points to a sophisticated web of late prehistoric Asian-Athapaskan interactions. A holistic assessment of Athapaskan migrations in the context of the transpacific Dene-Yeneseian phylum (the largest, fastest pedestrian language spread on earth) sees…

The purpose of this study was to describe and explain the portrayal of American Indians in U.S. textbooks selected for review in Hillsborough County, Florida's 2012 textbook adoption. The study identified which of the textbooks under consideration contained the greatest amount of information dedicated to American Indians. The study then analyzed…

From time immemorial, the Niimiipuu (Nez Perce) were very successful in passing on the traditions, languages, religions, and practices of the tribal people. Once created by `Iceyeeye (Coyote), the Children of the Coyote (Nez Perce) began to build and create their own society. The Niimiipuu built a system based upon economics, medicine, science,…

Experiences of the Occaneechi Band of the Saponi Nation (Occaneechi) in constructing a heritage revitalization initiative known as the Homeland Preservation Project and organizing related educational programming were analyzed through an ethnographic case study. The purpose of the study was to understand the importance of the heritage museum as a…

Wisconsin Act 31 was established for the purpose of addressing American Indian history, culture, and sovereignty within K-12 schools as a response to treaty rights issues in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Yet, in the 21 st century there remain issues with compliance throughout not only K-12 schools but also institutions of higher education. The…

This exploratory study took a post-colonialist lens to record, examine and document schooling experiences of California Indian people across several generations representing three Central Valley tribes: the Mono, the Tachi Yokuts of Santa Rosa Rancheria, and the Tule River Tribe. Past and present perceptions of Indian schooling were elicited…

In the 1990s, as Virginia Indians faced the 2007 quadracentennial of Jamestown's founding, they initiated plans to publicly correct inaccuracies and omissions embedded in the historical narrative. The Beyond Jamestown: Virginia Indians Past and Present Teachers' Institute was one such initiative through the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities'…